#border-wall

#border-wall

Last fall, loops of razor-wire fencing were strung along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend area, a remote region of far West Texas. Then, in January, residents heard rumors that a steel barrier was in the works. The wall along the southern border of the United States, whose construction began in the early nineties, under President George H. W. Bush, spans some seven hundred miles. The Big Bend region had previously been a low priority, owing to its rugged terrain and low number of illegal crossings.

The major media have scarcely breathed a word on the subject. But it's still there, 30 feet tall, aspirationally 1,952 miles long, obliterating habitats, dividing families, and sucking down public funds faster than a carrier-based air squadron.

The Las Playas Intaglio, a design etched into the ground in Southwest Arizona's Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, suffered damage from heavy construction machinery.

The U.S. crackdown on migration from Mexico has destroyed a sacred site shared by both countries. Explosions were heard last weekend on Cuchuma Hill as part of construction work on the border wall.

This is one of the largest public works projects in recent history for the U.S. It's fairly scary to think about the lack of oversight, the complete authority to build these walls without considering the environmental impacts.

That is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here when something is painted black it gets even warmer and it will make it even harder for people to climb. So we are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally,

The border wall, a centerpiece of President Donald Trump's agenda, cuts through a rugged, unique ecosystem home to hundreds of native species, from jaguars and pumas to black bears and deer.